Over 50 million users per month access Craigslist as of the date of publication, which makes it an ideal place to drum up interest in your business. Advertising your business on Craigslist can provide you with potential customers, but using this method of advertising also has a few drawbacks to consider. Before getting involved with Craigslist business ads, it helps to understand how the program works.

Regional Sites

One of the potential problems of advertising on Craigslist is that it is only offered on a regional basis. When you visit Craigslist, you navigate to a specific area close to you. When you post an ad, it is only available in a specific region. If you have an online business or another type of business with a national customer base, you only access a limited number of potential customers with each region.

Spam

Another problem that comes with advertising on Craigslist is the spam. When you post an ad on Craigslist, you could receive a large amount of spam emails. People who are offering other services and products may email you. Some of the emails may seem like they are from legitimate people, but you later find out they are only trying to sell you something. When posting on Craigslist, you have to learn how to determine what is legitimate and what is spam.

Posting in the Right Section

When posting ads to Craigslist, the site requires you to post your ad in the correct spot. For business ads, you have the option of posting in the "Services Offered" section. Within that section, several categories of sections are available to choose. If you post your ad in the wrong place on the site, it could be flagged or removed. Make sure you take the time to put your ad in the right place so it will not cause any problems with the site.

Expiring Ads

When posting ads to Craigslist, you have to continually repost them. When you put an ad up on Craigslist, it expires after a certain amount of time. Once your ad expires, you have to create the same ad again. If you create ads on several regional Craigslist sites, you may have to continually post ads. This is time-consuming and you may miss out on potential customers if one of your ads goes down after expiring.